Let me add to the choruses of praise for Disney. When we went six years ago it
was a bit of a challenge - the food courts were impossible, but the restaurants
were accommodating. We called first (407 WDW-DINE), and were told how to make
reservations and inform them that there were food restrictions.

During my son's first meal there, the chef came out of the kitchen and greeted
us even before we were seated. He crouched down to talk to our son and asked
him what his food restrictions were, and what his favorite foods were. When we
were seated, the chef brought out a humongous platter piled high with Josh's
favorite foods, and a few new favorites. He could eat everything. Needless to
say, we were overjoyed!

Just last month, his high school jazz band went to DisneyWorld. We couldn't
chaperone and we were crazy with anxiety, in spite of our good experiences the
first time. Our biggest worries were with the non-restaurant dining, since the
food courts and walk-up faster food places were notoriously overcrowed and
lacking in knowledgable supervision.

Guest services told us what we already knew: make reservations at the park
restaurants and tell them of the restrictions. Fortunately, their reservations
system has improved.

We also called the chef at our son's hotel (he was staying in the park) and
that made all of the difference. They were able to accommodate him with special
breakfasts (he's anaphylactic to milk, eggs, and all nuts), and even made him
egg-free milk-free pancakes! But even better is that they helped Josh find safe
foods in the park, and, with advance notice, even got non-dairy breads and
rolls to places where he ate. This was clearly service above and beyond the
call. And that's what Disney's so good at.

Do note that, at least in WDW in Florida, all of the buns/rolls and breads have
casein in them, so you'll have to be careful. We learned this from the hotel
chef.

Our son's trip was a near complete success. All of the meals that he ate there
were great, and he almost escaped incident-free. The one mistake he made was to
eat in the "Japan" restaurant in Epcot. He did everything right - made advance
reservations, told them at the time of the reservation and at the restaurant of
his allergies, yet he still had a reaction. Fortunately it was a relatively
mild one, and he only needed Benadryl (no EPI, no ER visit). We're not sure if
the problem was the joint preparation of the meals at the table (and possible
cross-contamination) or whether the noodles had egg in them (our son suspects
the latter, and he's a pretty good judge of his triggers). He said he wouldn't
have traded the excitement of the "show," however.

Do go to Disney. Do ask in advance (look at www.disney.com for more info) . Do
plan to take extra snacks for when you really need them. Consider having a big
(safe) breakfast and a big dinner, and snacking in between.

Let us know how it goes.

Mark

> Disney was very accomodating to us too.  We went three years ago.  I found it
> very confusing to make reservations before I left, but every place I did so
> with we had a wonderful, safe, meal.  The only problem we had was that we
> were there during the hurricane and Disney was closed for two days.  All of
> the restaurants shut down and the only thing open was the food court.  The
> food court was overrun by all of the guests, and there was no way to ask
> questions.  My son ended up eating crackers and pop tarts for two days.  (He
> didn't really mind)  Moral of the story, if you are there during hurricane
> season, have a backup.  It was the only time in history that they closed the
> park.  I hope you have a wonderful time!
>
> --Sally